Mysteries of Dungeons: Skies for Team Rune Flame
by Puniful-TeaKat
Summary: Novelization of Pokemon MD Sky. Aria finds herself on a beach with a eccentric riolu shaking her awake. Learning that she herself has turned into a vulpix- along with amnesia problem to top it off, has little time to mull over this, being dragged into the riolu's problem and all. Their destination? A fateful Mystery Dungeon, where else? All critique appreciated! (beware spoilers)
1. All Things Happen For a Reason

Blistering air and slicing water whipped at my ankles, biting and swallowing on my exposed legs. My fingers barely held my weight, my arm struggling with my weight. A claw dangled mere inches from my free hand, reaching out, dark green fingers hungrily desperate to grasp my wrist.

"Hold on!" My precious friend cried, voice hoarse and raw with emotion.

I shook my head, barely aware of myself crying in the roaring world of crashing sounds. "I-I can't..."

"Don't let go! _Hang on!_"

I tried my best to keep from crying out as my fingers slipped on the craggy rock, hoping only the best for my partner. In this screw head world, we were each others strength and only trustee.

I heard my name clearly above the sea I was trapped in, cutting through the great noise as I was devoured.

"Arianna!"

I wanted nothing more but to go back to the painful life that I clung to so much, for so long. My sole mission that was impossible, but we struggled on and on in forever denial.

_I'm sure this world was beautiful once. Please, if there is a god, let me do something about this dying planet._

I lost the ability to breath, but I didn't choke on the dark water swirling violently around me. Instead, my consciousness faded and I closed my eyes, peacefully. _Is this... Death? Or mercy?_

My thoughts drifted from me as well, and the sleep I fell into was gentle.

* * *

I've gotta be honest: I know I haven't posted in a long, long time. (Since dinosaurs were around, did ya know?) I've been on a emotional roller coaster with my writing and really, all constructive critique would really be loved. Your reviews give me life, substance, and energy (that may be stretching it, but your take and view and what you like and dislike about this would be great to know~ :3)

I know there isn't much yet, but I'm working on it. I'll try to keep this the only major author's post in the story since its probably annoying~

Like I mentioned beforehand in the summary, this is just a novelization. I hope I'm able to put a good spin on it, and work on characterization in my own writing.

If you'd like to continue to see where this journey leads, please follow, and a favorite totally wouldn't hurt either ;3 *shot repeated*

I think I said what I needed to say for now :3 Please follow if you're so inclined, and review with your thoughts, likes and dislikes!

Ja'ne~


	2. Beginnings Come in Forte

Blurred lights met my vision, and wherever I was, it was warm.

**_Wake up, child._**

_Okay._ I thought, tired but awake. Awake enough to open my eyes, I guessed.

**_Now close your eyes._**

I blinked, uncertain how to take the conflicting orders. "That's conflicting." I murmured, sighing.

**_Just do it!_**

"Mkay."

_Pushypants,_ I mentally added, maturely.

I closed my eyes and I was somewhere else.

* * *

A huge fluffy bed sat before me, with downy comforters beckoning me. Who am I do deny this beauty? I thought with a smile, climbing up and curling into a ball. I drifted off, my own soft snore in my ears.

* * *

Two different mirrors presented themselves with a large red button in front of each and one in the middle.

One mirror showed me a overly busy mareep, struggling to keep up with his peers, frustration easy to see in his open book expressions. That didn't seem appealing.

The other mirror showed a mareep sleeping, happy and content on a grassy forest floor. A gentle breeze fluffed his fur.

_So the middle button must be the in between._

I didn't mind being busy every once in a while but relaxing was just too nice to leave. Any chance to be lazy was a good choice to make, in most circumstances.

I chose the lazy button.

* * *

Two hiking paths presented themselves, one narrow and one wide. I easily chose the one that looked more fun, the narrow trail. The wild life was beautiful, and more people hiked the wide path. I was happy I chose the narrow one- foot patterns and less people seemed better suited to me.

* * *

I was in a busy classroom, passing back papers. A very suspicious man (supposedly the teacher) waltzed up to me, looking left and right before leaning near me.

"Did you study for the test?" He whispered harshly, spit flying to my cheek.

_Grooooss._ I shook my head no, absentmindedly as I wiped it off. "Mary and I meant to, but we got distracted..."

_Shiiiiit._ The sneaky bastard grinned.

"Summer school." He murmured.

I felt my life force fly away as my summer dreams shattered.

* * *

A commercial came up on the telly, a cheesy man laughing his ass off at something, pointing to a man vaguely familiar to me.

"Do you want to be famous?!" He yelled proudly like a samurai warrior.

"Hell no." I scrunched up nose, thinking of all the hungry eyes of fans and all the effort for a life of expected effort. It sounded terrible.

* * *

My stomach was stuffed, and my glorious problem before me wouldn't go away.

To mouse cake or not to mouse cake, that is the question.

Then I thought about how much I liked mouse cake.

I dug in my fork and delicately placed it into my mouth, with little reservation.

* * *

I waited anxiously at the GameStop counter, eyes feasting on the poster of the game I had reserved months ago.

When the cashier rung it up, he smiled hopelessly. "Good news or bad news?"

"Good news." I asked automatically.

"We'll have more in tomorrow?"

I walked out, dejectedly.

* * *

"Rawr!" My friend yelled right behind me like a wild banshee, causing me to go catering onto the apsalt.

"Huh?" I muttered, dazed.

I returned to the fuzzy world once more, blearily waking up again.

**_... Do you think no matter what, life goes on?_**

"Of course. It has to, right?"

**_One last thing. Are you a boy, or a girl?_**

"You're kidding me, right?"

I heard a gentle chuckle drift into the abyss.

**_Alright, alright. I just need to evaluate you a partner. What are your requirements?_**

"Er... We can help each other out?"

**_Very well. Good luck, dear one._**

Uncertain how to take most of that experience, I closed my eyes and decided I'd mull it over later.

Warm sand was under me, and I was vaguely aware of a underlying pain in my head. I couldn't wake up...

"Hey, come on now, _wake up!_ Are you okay?"

I slowly awoke, feeling clumsy and dull in my own body. I managed a intelligent "Afuwaa?"

"You aren't hurt anywhere are you?"

A sniffling pokemon was holding my head up, teary eyes fretted with concern. It was obvious they had been crying but I didn't bring it up.

I sat up, head pounding. "My head hurts but that's it. I can't really remember much..."

"Your name?" The riolu asked, looking quite a bit more cautious of me, backing up a bit.

I didn't blame him. Acting like a amnesiac was fairly suspicious. Not that I was acting.

I closed my eyes and thought about it, my name being shouted desperately, like a prayer. Green claws, a craggy mountainside. I couldn't remember anything else.

"Arian-"

"That's a really weird name." He grumbled, rubbing his metal wrist bump.

I rolled my eyes. "And what's your name, o Wise One?"

He put his muzzle in the air, proudly. "I-It's Rion, of the Lucarian Clan." He watched me, as if the name should mean something. When I didn't react, he sighed.

"Did I not come across strong enough..." Rion muttered to himself. When he introverted into himself, he lost his ego and looked much more down to earth, I noticed.

"Wait a minute... You're a riolu and I just had a conversation with you." I pointed out, extremely confused. This wasn't right.

He nodded slowly, as if he were talking. "Of course. You're a vulpix, I see no reason we'd have issues talking."

I looked down at my hands, which were fluffy, pale rose colored paws splayed out on the sand. I crossed my eyes to see a little snout, with a tiny nose I could _wiggle._ Dreadfully, I cocked my head around to see six curled tails coiled closely together, softly coated with short fur.

Self consciously, I moved my ears. I couldn't see them, but they were most definitely on my head alright. _They moved._

"... But I'm a human." I argued pointlessly, my tails twitching without my consent.

Rion was about to say something when a zubat I hadn't noticed slammed into him- most certainly not an accident. Another newcomer, a koffing, chortled at the scene.

The riolu froze up, flustered when a large stone tumbled out of his pack. The zubat immediately clung to it, doing something akin to laughing (it was really high pitch and painful to my attuning ears) and flew back to the koffing's side.

"Khe-he-he! What cha going to do about it, chicken?" The zubat snickered.

_Chicken? Dude, you're closer to clucking that Rion is._ I mentally noted, about to step up when I slipped on my paw. _Ah, shit. Gotta get used to paws_.

"Chu-ho-ho!" The koffing sneered, all ugly. So much ugly.

A shiver slithered through me as they got closer together, and Rion took a step back, terror in his blood red eyes that followed only the stone. "P-please don't take that..." He whimpered, gaze bright with tears.

_It must be really special to him..._ I thought quietly.

"Come get it back from us, if you can, weakling!"

They ran straight for the cave, and a awful feeling settled over me for being unable to help.

Rion looked over at me, wiping his tears. "P-please help me get it back. It's m-my precious treasure."

I swallowed. "I... I can't fight."

"I'll help you! Just... Please. I'm begging you."

His puppy dog face was too much against my flailing uncertainties. "Fine..."

Almost instantaneously, he gained back some happiness, with some confidence giving him a taller posture. He smiled sheepishly. "Thanks!"

As I (clumsily) followed him to the cave mouth, I silently acknowledged what could go wrong. So much... But I was unable to be fazed by my fears in the presence of this guy. And now that we were looking for it, he seemed like a new pokemon.

Well, its not like I had anything going in anyway.

* * *

Quickie-Author's-Note: Just in case my writing was foggy, the whole shenanigan with the voice n stuff was a physical spin on the whole personality test. I thought it would be more entertaining and add some words with it. What cha think?

As always, thanks for sparing some time to read! Please follow if you so wish, and review your thoughts if you'd be so inclined!

Ja'ne~


	3. A Humble Start

We had been trudging through the dungeon for almost two hours straight, and I had seen more shellder and corsala than I ever wanted. Water droplets itched like mosquito bites, and my head which had already been pounding was louder than my thoughts now- tackling was what I did mostly.

I still couldn't figure out how to use Ember- Rion didn't really know how to explain it anyway, because he wasn't a fire type, but I was able to finally get down Faint Attack with his assistance, although it only worsened my head ache.

Thankfully, all of our opponents were fairly weak and Riolu knew his was around the ever changing map. It was to both of our suprise that I knew everything there was to know about berries and dungeon objects though. The knowledge had no memories linked to it, unfortunately.

"This is it." He whispered in my ear which startled the crap out of me, but I managed not to give us away to the LaughingShithead duo at the final room, frothing over the stone.

Knowing he was probably hesitant, I nudged him forward a bit.

We marched forward, inches between us as we glared them down. Was this... standing like a team? It felt natural, and pretty good.

"Hehe, its wimp and wimpy!" Snarked Koffing, snarling. _So original. So suave. How does he do it?_

Zubat flaunted the stone about. "You'll be so crushed when we sell this, kufufuuu."

Rion's face fell at the thought, but then he glanced back at me, stood straighter, and gave them a furious sneer. "You just go and try it!"

_Hey, look, Rion has encountered a wild back bone!_ I chuckled a little, a tiny nanometer proud that he could stand up against them, when he had been sniffling two hours previous.

I tried my best to give a matching scowl, although it didn't _feel_ particularly scary.

Zubat started the battle, using a speedy Quick Attack he thought he could surprise me with. Luckily I had read his movements beforehand (he screamed a very high pitched battle cry beforehand, really) and he got a surprise Ember to the face- a surprise to the both of us, I might add.

I hadn't been planning to try it or anything- warm heat just splayed out of my mouth in response when my legs couldn't get me out of the way.

A bit dazed myself, distracted with my feat, I mentally celebrated until Zubat gave me a wing to the face.

_Touche, bastard._

He went down with another Ember attack, which surprisingly made my throat feel warm and soft. _It feels good but I shouldn't over do it._

Rion was holding his own against Koffing, but it was at a stalemate, each trading off Tackles that didn't do much.

Deciding it was no time for a square battle, I gathered the dark matter in the room and send it at Koffing with a Faint Attack. Rion took the team combo chance with a Force Palm right to the purple blobs face.

"Hell yes!" I chirped to no one in particular, grinning as Rion nabbed the stone, hugging it to his chest.

Rion murmured something inaudible, as he put it in his small pack.

"It was just a fluke." Koffing rasped, peeling himself off the ground slowly.

"We didn't have our cheif! Remember that!" Zubat agreed, crawling rather pathetically, I silently patted myself on the back for that achievement.

The evil duo zipped off again, and we both plopped to the ground, laughing and exhausted.

"My Relic Fragment..." Rion sighed, smiling. "Am I ever glad... I didn't think I would be able to get it back. Thank you, Arian, I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you!" He shouted, tackling me into a hug. I couldn't help but just laugh some more, unsure how to react, but I knew I liked being friends with him, there was that much.

Back on the beach, my troubles began to eat at me. I had no food, money, or friends besides Rion. I didn't want to be a bother, but I didn't know anything about anything, not even including myself.

I sighed, and slumped on the beach. I only happened to even help because Rion really needed a hand... but what now?

I glanced over to said pokemon, whom was staring at the stone, blissfully happy. At the very least, I was able to help.

He skipped over to me, placing the stone on the sand between us, sitting down. His blissful happiness was replaced with a clear minded knowledge. "This is what they stole."

I studied what he had called the Relic Fragment, earlier. It had a familiar, beautiful design.

"Its my precious treasure." He stated, absentmindedly placing a blue paw on its edge. "I've always loved lore and legends. Whenever I hear of ancient kings and potential golds, I just get so excited, don't you? Dark territories shrouded in the unknown... New lands with things we've never imagined. To make history finding beautiful treasures! That's what I've always wanted to do. So one day I happened to find my Relic Fragment. At first I thought it was junk, but after taking a closer look... It looks like it fits somewhere."

I looked under the flat surface, to find the strange way it had been taken out of whatever he believed it was key to. It didn't look shoveled out- rather, a insert. Like Rion said, a key to something.

"I want to find whatever my Relic Fragment goes to!" He proclaimed, frowning earnestly. "So I tried to join a guild as a apprentice... but I chickened out. But... enough about me. What about you, Arian?"

The question made my stomach churn. I looked down, and shrugged the slightest bit. "I... I dunno."

"You lost your memory... And you turned into a pokemon..."

"Y-you believe me?"

He looked surprised that I was surprised. "Well, yeah. You've earned my trust. Anyway, that aside, do you have anywhere to stay?"

I shook my head dejectedly.

"If not... Can I ask a big favor? Would you form a exploration team with me? I believe I can form a effective exploration team with you, Arian."

"Yes!" I cheered, deciding I would clear up my name later. I may have not thought it through very much, still giddy from the battle, but it would temporarily save me, either way. At least, it's what I told myself.

* * *

Quickie-From-Me: Heyo~ What did you think of Rion? He seemed a bit strange, but he's over all a good guy :3 And Arian(na) hopefully seemed lively?

I've never been able to stand those losers, Zubat and Koffing :P I remember being so frustrated not kicking team skull's butt at the perfect apple tree x3

As per usual, please follow! Review, please, if you wouldn't mind sparing a minute.

Ja'ne!


	4. Fate is in Motion

I had to crane my neck to see the vast building in the obvious shape of a wiggilytuff, impressed by its size.

Moments before Rion showed me the gate when you stepped and it evaluated your identity and teamship.

"Yikes..." Said riolu grumbled, staring down the gate. "It looks so strange... No! I have Arian with me. I can do this!"

I really did need to talk to him about my name... But he seemed content, pepping himself. I was really happy to be someone's strength- it was an odd feeling. We had barely known each other since that after noon, to the boot. Or, would it be paw now?

"I have to be brave!" He growled to himself, storming onto the wicker gate.

**"POKEMON DETECTED POKEMON DETECTED. WHO'S FOOTPRINT WHO'S FOOTPRINT?"**

I had to shrink back at the sheer volume, the noise catching me off guard.

**"THE FOOTPRINT IS RIOLU'S, THE FOOTPRINT IS RIOLU'S."**

Rion flinched, but I knew he was fine when he kept his cool, grinning while clenching his fists. _Poor guy._ I thought, stretching my hind legs anxiously. _Hind legs, ha. I'm already getting used to it._

**"YOU MAY ENTER. SEND UP WHOEVER IS WITH YOU NOW."**

I walked onto the thing, flexing my toes at the new weird sensation. After getting fully on there, I also had a new discovery. _ I really don't like heights._

I froze, rooted to the spot as the same process was repeated with me, until they couldn't figure out my specie. I swallowed the intense instinct to flee, instead using Rion's encouraging smile to keep me on there. _Be calm, chill. It will all be over soon._

**"WHAT'S THE MATTER, SENTRY?"**

_... Or I will explicitly murder each and every one of them. God help me..._

"Maybe vulpix! Maybe vulpix!"

**"MAYBE?"**

"It isn't a common footprint, y'know..."

**"THAT'S BULL."**

_Way to be blunt._ I said to myself, focusing on sarcasm to clear my head.

**"DIGLETT, YOUR JOB IS IDENTIFYING VISITORS!"**

"Yes, but... How can I know what I don't know?"

Rion sighed and sent me small smile. "They're arguing." I chuckled, surprised my voice was so strong.

He nodded, fists relaxing as a purple figure stormed up. **"Sorry to make you WAIT."**

The steel pikes lifted out of the ground and Rion shivered before walking in first. We were both surprised to find a ladder leading our way down. I mentally panicked. _Oh god. I can barely walk with my paws without tripping- how am I supposed to climb down a ladder?_

Luckily, Rion helped me as I slipped on the last step so no one noticed. They wouldn't have anyway- the hustle and bustle of pokemon making the place lively.

We walked in a bit. The soft grass felt nice under my paws. "Wow..." Rion exclaimed, awed. "Are all these pokemon exploration teams?" Two large boards seemed to be the focus of the many colorful pokemon filling the room.

A chatot hobbled up to us. "You two are the two whom just came from the gate, yes?"

We nodded.

Chatot introduced himself at the go-to-guy and the Guildmaster's right hand man. I couldn't help myself from a mental quip, from his puffed up feathers and high turned beak. _Poly has a complex._

I had to hide my snickering as he tried to shoo us off and then I returned to the reality of the situation. Rion explained we wanted to join a exploration team, and this shocked Chatot, apparently, because he talked to himself as he turned around.

"Its rare to see a kid want to join the guild...Especially how hard the training is! ... Surely the numbers of quiters proves that!"

Rion looked a little intimidated. "Excuse me... is it that hard?"

"WHAAAAT?!" Chatot squawked, surprised he had been heard, and then quickly composed himself. "Well-no no! That's not true in the slightest! It's easy as can be! Hehehe... Well, well, well, I wish you had told me up front, hahaha! Hee-Hee! "

Rion scooted closer to me. "His attitude totally changed, didn't it?"

I nodded. "We shouldn't trust suspicious pokemon like that."

"Let's go then, hee-hee-hee !"

Reluctantly, after a very long and quiet discussion, we followed to sign up.

I missed the last peg again, but the second floor was beautiful, which cheered me up. There was a half wall to ceiling of window and lots of space, with even fluffier grass and a cozy feel to it all.

Rion gushed about the window, because we were essentially underground, but Chatot sharply barked at him that of course, because we were in the side of a cliff. I tsked, silently making a list of things off about this bird. _Talks to himself. Is possibly transitioning into a schizophrenic. Lastly and most importantly: children dream killer._

"On no account. I repeat, on no account shall you be rude to the Guildmaster." The bird threatened, sending us a death glare before hoping to the door, and speaking in a singysong voice. "Master? It's Chatot ! I'm coming in~"

Whatever I had expected, it certainly wasn't what I came to know was Master Wiggilytuff.

"Master~, I've brought two newcomers wishing to be apperentices~!" Chatot sang with a creepy beak grin. No response from pink bunny man. "Uh... Master?"

Rion and I exchanged looks. Several odd beats passed.

"Hiya!" The wiggilytuff turned around all puppies and rainbows. "If you wanna join, then go for it! First you guys gotta have a name!"

I knew we had forgotten something. I wanted to groan but Rion seemed to have thought about it far more than I. "Pokehelpers-" He blurted excitedly.

"No." I vehemently shook my head.

His growlithe eyes didn't work this time. "We don't want to sound generic, right?" I asked, tiilting my head.

He sighed, but nodded all the same. I almost scratched my ear with my front paw when I remembered my ear was on the top of my head, and I sighed in turn. Being a pokemon was so weird.

Shaking the thought away, I suggested another name. "How about Team Rune Flame?"

Pouting still, Rion nodded a little. "... I like it."

I rolled my eyes, amused by his childishness.

I had very nearly shat myself dead when Wiggilytuff yelled, drawing in the power of the room with his voice. "YOOOOOM-TAH!"

Rion looked equally startled, at least. Then Wiggilytuff set down a gold box before us.

"An Exploration Kit?" The eager riolu questioned, eyeing it ravenously.

"Open it, open it!" The friendly Guildmaster ordered us, motioning to the box.

Taking the orders happily, Rion dug in.

Firstly he took out the badge with little wings on the side, handing it gingerly to me as he scanned a map in there- a wonder map. We both stared happily at the quality bag that came with it too. His tiny Relic bag hadn't held hardly anything in the dungeon.

Wiggilytuff explained the Explorer Badge- our certification to show off our rank, basically. It was fairly cute in my opinion.

In our bag was a Special Band for Rion and a Green Bow for me- I felt oddly drawn to it. The material seemed to pulse comfortingly, relaxing whatever tension was in my body.

"Do your best on your missions!" Wiggilytuff yelled with a smile. We nodded, Rion yelling along side him.

"Yeah!"

"Do your best to train until you excel!"

I joined into the tradition this time. "Sir yes sir!"

We left giddy, to a room we found to be our boarding. Two beds of warm hay were laid out, with soft sunlight on loose dirt and stone walls. We even had a window, letting in a red sunset.

We both collapsed, exhausted as the exhilaration from the day drained. I stayed quiet, unable to sleep and merely familiarized myself with Rion's breathing, thinking of the future.

During our dungeon raid, he had explained to me why he had been so suspicious of me. Apparently, in the last few years especially so, pokemon had been going rogue. Crimes were often, occuring in even broad day light. Dungeons had appeared- they had always been safe until the world flip flopped and the balance began growing sour.

Some pokemon had even begun to lose their minds.

I shook my head, trying to get out of the dark thoughts so I could sleep.

"You still up, Arian?"

I grunted affirmatively, resisting the urge to open my eyes.

"I gotta confess: its hard to sleep. My heart has been pounding nonstop today. But I finally made it here. Y'know, Wiggilytuff sounded scary but he's more scary friendly. Tomorrow... and even beyond that, we'll experience all sorts of amazing things. But unlike trying to work the courage against those thugs, and going to Wiggilytuff's guild, I'm not scared. Its funny we only met today, but because of you, I've been able to accomplish so much. Thank you, Arian."

It was weird, being told I did so much just by being there- and it made me suspect Rion was actually very lonely.

Feeling sleepy now, I decided to shove the questions for later. I curled up in the smallest ball I could manage, and focused on my breathing, slowly falling into sleep.

**"HEY, RISE AND SHINE!"**

_Oh god my brain is noodles._ I flailed in my bed for a moment, until I managed to get straw everywhere on myself. Rion- the bastard- rolled out of bed, army ready.

**"HURRY UP! I'M LOUDRED, YOUR FELLOW APPERENTICE. IF YOU TAKE TOO LONG AND MAKE MASTER WIGGILYTUFF ANGRY... YOWIE!"**

I also had no time to destraw- we had to hurry right behind Loudren not to be late. Thankfully, Master Wiggilytuff wasn't even out of his room yet. All the exploration pairs were lined up and Rion and I quickly joined.

"Good. Everyone's present." Chatot said mostly to himself, also looking morning chiper. "Then lets start the morning address. Master Wiggilytuff, everyone is ready and present!"

The guildmaster stumbled gracefully out of his room. I had to hold my laughter back when I noticed he was still drooling- the guildmaster was sleep walking.

"Thank you Guildmaster. Please address the crew."

"Snort... sniffle... _snore_."

Amused whispers filtered throughout the room. "That's our guildmaster alright."

"He's completely wide awake, huh?"

"That's gotta take some serious skill." I whispered to Rion, who grinned behind his hand.

If anything that bird could be commended for, it would be an A plus for effort. "Thank you for your... words of wisdom!" He turned to face the laughing apperentices. "Okay, take that to heart everyone! Now lets do our morning cheers!"

Rion and I awkwardly stood there as they energetically shouted some cheery lines. "A ONE! A TWO! A ONE-TWO-THREE! ONE! DON'T SHIRK YOUR WORK! TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY! THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!"

Chatot then sent everyone to work. Everyone set about to do it, leaving us two standing still, idly until he came up to us.

We followed him on his orders to a simple wooden board.

Being begginners with no rep, Chatot hand selected one for us from the Job Bulletin. While he was doing this, Chatot and Rion talked about how the messy time flow was part of the rogue pokemon crisis.

It went all over my head, in short.

We were given a letter from a Spoink character. His pearl had been stolen and recently spotted- he was just so boingingly nervous without it. It had been sighted in a rocky buff, apparently.

Rion argued that the mission wasn't exciting enough but Chatot would have none of it. Not having an opinion nor ability to help much in the matter, I kept quiet.

And then Chatot delightfully reminded us what would happen if we failed- loosing items and most of our poke. That did not sound ideal.

With furious squawks of rage behind us, we hurried to Drench Bluff.

_Oh fucking wonderful. Water._

When we arrived, we wasted no time plowing through, with Chatot's threats in our ears. It wasn't extravagantly hard- they didn't know any water attacks so I was safe. I pretty much just spammed Faint Attack with Rion by my side, and we finished in about three hours plus the two hours getting there and going home.

Rion was especially disappointed with the mission- he wore his pouting growlithe face all day. I guessed he was hoping for something with more flair, or at least something more helpful.

Really this cave was just an elongated version of Beach Cave- the one we went through the day prior.

Spoink had given us some training goodies and 2000 poke- Rion and I balked at the bag of coins bigger than my head.

"Really? All this for us?!" He exclaimed, happily confused how getting Spoink's pearl warranted us getting 2000 bucks.

"This is my special pearl! I haven't been able to sleep without it properly!" The psychic type hopped around us gleefully.

I scooted closer to Rion. "It's like your Relic Fragment. You felt devastated without it, right?"

He nodded, his spirits lifted some. We waved Spoink off, our first mission closing to a success.

And then, Birdy the Dreamkiller came out once more.

"We're rich, Arian! Just like that!" He laughed, petting my turf of curled hair. I grinned, poking the bag.

"We could buy all sorts of cool stuff with this!" I agreed, examining the gold now. It was all brand new- probably from the bank. Spoink must have really loved his pearl to give us such a large sum from his funds- the pokemon obviously wasn't a high roller.

"Now hand over the money please." Chatot said, the bastard's face completely content.

_I bet he eats babies for breakfast._

Rion had to take a moment to form words. "We- but we just earned that!"

"Don't be silly. " The bird scoffed. He gave us back a handful of poke. "You get 200 poke. You see, most of the money goes to the Guildmaster!"

_Devil bird._

He was crestfallen, staring at the amount that'd barely buy us maybe two or three apples. "That's awful..." He murmured, frowning.

"That's the guilds rule! Accept it!"

We bowed our heads in mourning for our lost coins.

"That's the guild's rule! _Squawwwwwk!_ Accept it!" I mimicked in our room.

Rion laughed, setting down our Treasure bag. I had ranted enough for the both of us- he was too polite to do it, you see. I was just finished with it by the time a soft voice filled the halls.

"Come on everyone! I finished making dinner!"

We followed the hungry horde to a long, warm mess hall. Colorful dishes lined the place from wall to wall. Everyone was complimenting the cook- a graceful looking chimeco.

It tasted better than anything I could remember...

_Wait. This is the first time I've eaten since I wound up here, which was almost two days ago!_

My stomach growled and I obliged, diving in with a tummy to rival Loudren's. I heard some of the girls at the table giggle something about me- I didn't much care, I was starved. It was just me and my fateful, delicious, gorgeous food.

I moaned as we got to bed. "That was sooooo worth loosing 1800 poke. Mmm..."

Rion laughed. "Yeah. We haven't ate since yester... You haven't eaten anything yet, huh."

"Besides the cooked fruit of our labors." I grinned, plopping down on my bed

"The girls seemed to taking a liking of you, Arian."

I shrugged. I was a girl, it didn't matter much to me if I was popular with them. _Some girlfriends would be cool though, I guess._ I yawned and snuggled up in my bed.

Rion began again with his nightly monolog. "Today was crazy, huh? So much happened. I'm happy our mission was a success, though. It was too easy for my liking, but Spoink was so happy! I was really down whenever the guild took the majority of our cash. But we can't do anything about it if we want to train here. I'm glad we got a pokemon their special treasure back, though. Good night, buddy."

I wanted to say good night but I yawned, an promptly fell asleep.

* * *

**Just-Me-Here: E'yo~ Please favorite n stuff if you feel inclined!**

**If you have any thoughts, critiques or whatnot, please review me so I can get better :D**

**Bye-bai!**


	5. Part I: The Die is Cast

**"UP AND AT'EM, ROOKIES."**

I woke up in a similar state as I did yesterday, completely exasperated. _Is this going to be a new thing?_

Rion chuckled at my straw ridden self and ushered my clumsy ass out the door, and we made it just in time. We both participated in the morning assembly pledge, although I screwed up a bit. Thankfully, no one noticed that I said 'Run away and flay!'

_Does that mean you have to cook, or be cooked if you run?_ I mused to myself while the group went about their ways.

Chatot helped us find another mission today, but it was on the other board. Rion and I traded looks of confusion. "These pokemon look pretty cool, Chatot. What are they?" Rion asked, eyes falling on all of them.

To me they looked strong, but not exactly trustworthy. I didn't like their scowls.

"They're outlaws." Chatot replied mildly. Rion took a double take and I nodded, finding it fitting. "They're so many bad pokemon that the police need assistance, and some of the citizens just come straight here. The pay isn't bad, but the risk is a bit higher."

"W-WHAT!? You expect us to catch these outlaws?!" Rion exclaimed, loud enough to cause me to flinch. "That isn't possible!"

Chatot snorted. "Calm yourself. They come in all shades of badness- you don't have to take on arsonist and murders quite yet. But some are just petty pickpockets, you've got a rainbow of evil to select from. I'm sure we can avoid one being too tough. So look around... and just pick a weakling!"

I felt slightly offended, gazing at all the colorful asshats.

"You say some are weak... but they're still bad pokemon, aren't they?" Rion asked, fiddling with his paws.

I wondered what his deal is with this. _Even if they're bad, we could probably just take on, I dunno, a magikarp or something equally "terrifying."_

For once, what Chatot comforted him with was actually just what the Chancey prescribed. "It's all part of your training. You'll work through this, I'm sure. Although, it wouldn't be bad to have someone give you a tour of the facilities so you'll be prepared." Chatot turned around to the ladders. "HEY. BIDOOF."

"Yup... huffhuff... Yup. I'm here."

_That little dude got him in record time!_ I mentally noted, awed.

"Take these newbies on a tour of the place!" Chatot ordered, squawking. I didn't think he'd stay wise and caring for long.

Bidoof nodded, grinning. "Yessir by golly, I'll do just that!" _What southwestern film did he jump out of?_

The pokemon seemed energetic, at least.

"Pay attention to Bidoof, and follow his orders as a elder apprentice. Off you go!" and Chatot happily flew back down to the second floor. Then Bidoof broke out in tears, quite literally blubbering globs of tears.

"Shucks, I'm overjoyed!" He sniffed.

Rion shared my off put reaction. "Uh... why is that, Bidoof?"

"I have members junior t-to me! I might just blubber with happiness! Before y-you two came on, I was the most recent rookie." He sniffled some more, wiping his wet eyes.

Rion smiled, probably liking the earnest pokemon. Bidoof kind of scared me.

He motioned us to follow him, too moved to speak, apparently.

We followed him down to the second floor to see Croagunk's Pot. Pretty items were hung all around the stone stall, and a creepy croagunk clung to a pit with ominous purple fluid inside it. "Here's Croagunk's Pot. But to tell the truth, I have no idea what he sells. Its all a mystery to me, yup yup!" He pointed to the mess hall, at the the end of the room. "You two already know that's the mess hall, yup yup." He turned to the opposite direction. "There's our crew rooms, yup." Lastly he turned to the colorful stone archway that Chatot stood by. "And there's the Guildmaster's Chambers."

Next we followed him to outside the guild- I had only caught a glimpse of it on the way to the guild to join. _I wonder if there's a place with a better bed I can buy sometime?_

We went outside to the four way path. "That well is the Watering Hole. It brings good luck if you pray there before an adventure." We followed him to the left path, to town. Rion sent me a smile as he jovially half skipped there.

He brought us to the town square. "This is Treasure Town!" Bidoof yipped fondly. He looked ready to say something more about it but Rion beat him to it.

"I can tell you all about Treasure Town! Over there-" Rion energetically pointed to a cute shop modeled after a duskull. "-is Duskull's Bank. Its a really handy place to store poke." Rion pointed next to a place shaped after a electivire. It was empty. "That's the Electivire Link Shop. You can make cool combo moves. Looks like he's off somewhere though."

I pretty much spaced out after that, observing them on my own. There was one farther down with two kecleon selling basic goods and wares, with a kangaskhan store next door that looked like a storage place. There was also a place that looked like a marowak and a chancey, but I don't think Rion elaborated on those.

"You sure know a lot yessiree, and that's good to know!" Bidoof complimented him. Rion nodded a tad bashfully. "Come talk to me when you're done and I'll help you find a right criminal to beat, too."

"Thank you, Bidoof. You've been really nice." Rion bowed a little and I did like so.

Bidoof blubbered and said something about meeting up in front of the outlaw board. His tears and yupyups made it a bit difficult to understand.

I led Rion around town, exploring it a bit before going to the Kecleon Brothers to buy a Stun Seed. "We can immobilize our foe that way!" I explained cheerfully, snack on a apple we also bought to share as breakfast. When we got our change, a marill and azurill duo ran up beside us.

"Hi Mister Kecleons!" They chirped together with easy grins. The two kecleon brothers smiled warmly, both crouching down a bit to their level.

"Oh, hello Marill and Azurill!" the green brother greeted them with a kind smile. "Welcome, my young friends!"

The purple brother nodded earnestly. "What brings you two today?"

"We came to buy an apple." The younger one stated, looking a bit anxious. The purple kecleon handed them a brown paper bag in exchange for some poke.

"Thank you Mister Kecleons!" The marill took the bag, giddy. He took the younger water type and they skipped off together.

The two kecleon brothers sighed. "Those kids are to be admired. As of late, their mother fell ill and they're taking care of her. It's remarkable."

_Those kids _are _pretty amazing._ I silently agreed, wondering how scared they must have been, imagining their life. I may have not had memories of my real mother, but I had a resilient, unbreakable feeling of love, to whomever it was, or at the very least, the idea of a mother. _I hope their mom's case isn't too serious, they look like they've already had to grow up too much already. _The too serious face of the azurill came to mind. They had to be scared for their future and the future of their mother. They must've.

The kids came rushing back, not seconds later. "Mister Kecleons, you gave us an extra apple!" Marill said, face stretched in worry.

The green kecleon laughed. "That's a gift from us. Please share it among yourselves and enjoy." Marill looked happy, and Azurill was simply ecstatic.

"Thank you, Mister Kecleons!"

Said pair sent them on their way kindly. "Take care, you two!"

Azurill tripped before going too far, sending a red round projectile at my face.

"Yowie!" The azurill cried, nursing his tail.

"Oh f-" was the sound I made before realizing children were in the area. I gingerly stood up, holding the apple delicately between my teeth. Azurill hobbled over to me.

"Can I have my apple back?" he asked adorably, ocean eyes expectantly watching the red skin of the fruit.

I set it down on the ground for him to coil his tail around and I patted his head with a smile. Azurill and Marill crossed tails together as they left, looking purely overjoyed with their gift.

With no warning, an other worldly scream cut through my mind and I shivered, stepping back as the duo left again. _What on earth was that? No one else looked like they heard_ it... Oddly enough, it didn't

Then a wave of dizziness overtook me. I couldn't see anything, the words **HELP ME** falling into my mind like dropped scrabble letters.

Vaguely I heard the Marill say something about looking for a lost item through the foggy distance I shook my head and came back to the world.

"Those little guys are cute." Rion noted, waving them off. He then noticed I didn't move to wave goodbye either- well, couldn't more like. "What's wrong, Arian?"

It took me a moment to get my bearings. I asked if he had heard a cry for help just in case.

"No, I didn't hear anything like that!" He yelped, looking startled and alarmed, listening for it himself. I shook my head.

"Hey, Kecleon Brothers, did you hear anything strange just now?" Rion asked them before I could stop him.

The shook their heads. "Nope." They said in sync, perfectly.

"That's good." Rion sighed in relief. "It was probably just your imagination, Arian."

One of these days I was going to have to fix the name issue.

_I definitely heard that. And I'm positive that voice belonged to Azurill. But I also don't want to bother Rion with this if I don't know what happened. Was this... what even the hell was it?_

"Are you day dreaming, Arian? That's cute but Bidoof will probably think we forgot him if we don't hurry."

I sighed and followed after my partner. No use dwelling on it if I could keep an ear out for stray azurill news.

As we neared the town square we found Maril and Azurill were talking to a drowzee with especially squinty eyes. The new pokemon looked oddly familiar.

The brothers looked relieved, and exceedingly joyful. Is that drowzee guy a doctor?

I was just a step behind Rion, who asked about the situation.

"Some time ago we lost something really important to us..." Marill explained, a sad look crossing his face as he remembered. "We've been looking all over... We didn't even have a idea where it could've gone. But Mister Drowzee here thinks he knows where it went! He even offered to go with us! We might be able to find it!" the Mouse Pokemon cheered, grinning ear to ear. Azurill wore a twin expression.

Rion matched their faces in smiles. "That's great, you guys!"

Me on the other hand, I couldn't take my eyes off the drowzee. He looked too sexy for his shirt- joking, he looked hauntingly familiar. For the life of me, I couldn't identify from where.

_Does he have something to do with my past as a human?_ I thought about it, but it didn't feel like it was awaking memories... More so it was tugging at the few memories I had now.

"Thank you, Mister Drowzee!" Azurill added, hopping on his tail.

"Please, I am undeserving to receive such gratification. I could never turn a blind eye and have such a cold heart not to help! Let us be on our way to your item!" the pokemon laughed, dragging them away. Pushing them lightly on their way, Drowzee accidentally bumped into me. "Sorry! If you'll excuse me."

I felt the dizzy spell hit again.

Rion's voice burned my ears as he complimented the drowzee. "Wow, that guy is really nice! It's hard to do good deeds with so many bad pokemon about. It's impressive!"

My vision went dead like it did last time but then it bursted back to life, and I saw Drowzee towering over Azurill with the same scowl that the outlaws shared. What...

"If you keep making trouble, I'll give you a world of pain." Drowzee snarled, his trunk reared back with his words low and serious.

Azurill was tearing up, wide eyed in horror. He screamed- the same one I heard earlier, and whimpered the same words that had dropped into my mind. "Help me..."

I snapped out of the spell, and Rion was still having the conversation we had when the dizzy spell attacked. "It would be nice if those little guys found their treasure." He murmured wistfully. He looked back at me. "Arian- Whoa. You look like you just saw a ghost. What's wrong?"

I quickly told him what I just saw. "We have to go after them!" I ushered, still hearing the scream in my head.

Rion looked like someone had punched him in the gut. "What you described does sound like an emergency... It isn't that I don't trust you, Arian.. It's just hard to believe it! Drowzee seemed so nice, too. But... They left together, and they looked like they were having such a good time. Maybe you're just tired, Arian. Maybe that's the source of your dizzy spells."

I wanted- I'm not sure what I wanted to do, but that kinda set me off. "It wouldn't hurt either way, Rion!" I growled, glaring at him.

He sighed, nodding. "But we're also just apprentices. We can't go zipping off wherever we please. Why don't we go ask Bidoof what to do?"

"Fine." I curtly agreed, marching back to the guild as quickly as I could.

I felt bad for taking it out on Rion, but he was being almost indifferent. Those little ones were in trouble, and we were the only ones that could get there in time to do something. Anything at all. The dizzy spells and the evidence they provided were making me overwhelmed, instinctively knowing it was real and going to happen. It wouldn't hurt to check, and in my thoughts there was absolutely no room for doubt._  
_

Bidoof seemed surprised by how I was panting fire with a mighty glower, and a tiring Rion jogged in after me. His concerned question was lost as a rugged baritone rung through the guild, and the Outlaw Board flipped over, shining and bare. "**UPDATING, UPDATING.**" The entire room shook jerkily, sending everyone to their feet.

"What's going on!?" Rion shouted over the noise to Bidoof.

"They're updating the jobs, yup yup!"

The board flipped back, chocked full of newly painted jobs. "**UPDATING COMPLETED.**"

I scanned them while Rion began to ask if there was a suspicious drowzee, but I beat him to the punch.

"His picture is right there!" I pointed my paw forcefully at a drowzee's sly grin. Rion's fist were tightly balled, shivering with tension. He nodded at me firmly, his determined expression telling me all that I needed to know.

"Hey, by golly, it isn't that cold in here. Are you okay, Rion?" Bidoof quizzed, tilting his head and then his gaze following my clenched paw.

"Let's go!" Rion barked, snatching up the bag and dashing to the ladder, with me hot on his heels.

* * *

**I-Promise-I'll-Be-Quick: This and the next chappie were one chapter, but it rounded out to a bit over 6000 words, and I my chapter lengths are uneven enough at it is :3 So if the ending does seem abrupt, there ya go ~**

**Thank you for taking time to read this, and if you don't mind, reviewing your thoughts and whatnot is always a super cool move. (p.s. is the short paragraph format annoying? I've tried making them thicker but they generally don't run as smooth all lumped together. Thoughts?)**

**Ciaosu~**


	6. Part 2: The Die is Cast

_In Part 1 of the minisub-Drowzee Arc:_

**_"His picture is right there!" I pointed my paw forcefully at a drowzee's sly grin. Rion's fist were tightly balled, shivering with tension. He nodded at me firmly, his determined expression telling me all that I needed to know._**

**_"Hey, by golly, it isn't that cold in here. Are you okay, Rion?" Bidoof quizzed, tilting his head and then his gaze following my clenched paw._**

**_"Let's go!" Rion barked, snatching up the bag and dashing to the ladder, with me hot on his heels._**

* * *

We scrambledashed outside to find a perplexed Marill sitting outside the gate, dumbfounded.

"What happened?" I questioned, as Rion handed the water mouse a handkerchief from the bag, which the little guy gladly accepted.

"W-we set off together but I got s-separated. Drowzee w-went somewhere with Azurill. I called and yelled but they didn't hear me... I got scared."

"Which way did they go?" Rion asked, body tense.

Marill pointed the way, and the three of us ran like there was no tomorrow.

A huge rocky crag sat before us after what felt like decades of running through jelly, the sight looming high and superior in the sky. "Arian... In your dream, were they in a mountainous place?" Rion asked, making sure we had suitable supplies in our bag.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remember. The floor they were standing on was flat, but the walls and ceilings definitely were traitorous, with a tiny triangular cave that looked barely big enough for something as tiny as Azurill to slip into.

"Yeah, and it's kind of foggy- they must be near the top!" I said confidentially, ready as ever. I then gave the terrified Marill a look over. "Marill, please wait for us to bring your little brother back to you."

Marill nodded, giving a watery smile.

This poor guy really can't get a break, huh?

With the image of Drowzee and Azurill burned in my mind, we raced towards the mystery dungeon.

We covered the nine floors in about two hours, Rion and I rushing like crazy. Anytime I felt tired, Azurill's scream echoed in my head and I pushed forward. Anytime Rion felt tired, I dragged him until he managed to get to his feet.

The spinaraks were quick as they were evil with flying String Shots half the room away, but they didn't do so well against my fire.

When we reached the floor Drowzee and Azurill were on, we quickly evaluated ourselves. My throat was tight and rough- I couldn't use any fire for at least the rest of the day. Rion's ankle was tender- we'd probably need to end it fast with our decaying energy.

We marched onto the floor. "Drowzee, show your sorry ass." I growled softly, unable to shout it as I wished to.

"You'd do well to stop and surrender!" Rion yelled, his voice echoing across the cave.

We realized we had gone down a floor instead of up.

"Damn it." I muttered. How was that even possible? We thundered through the floor, tired, anxious, and pissed off beyond a doubt.

When we finally found the right stairs, Rion had to take a minute and I was ready to collapse.

**H-help me!**

_I know, we're coming!_

"M-mister Drowzee? It's a dead end!"

I could see Drowzee's sneer from here. _Ugly asshat._

Rion and I readied ourselves to spring at the best moment to surprise him.

"M-my brother isn't here like you said... Is he coming soon?"

Drowzee laughed, honestly amused by this. "Your brother isn't coming, kid. Here's a secret: it was all a trick."

Azurill was in near tears, shaking.

I was ready to lash out at the deceiving bastard, but Rion put a paw in my shoulder, shaking his head.

"I need you to squirrel into that little hole. There's a treasure rumor of a trove of thief gold inside there! I'm too big to get in there, but see, you're just tiny enough! Don't worry though, if you do it I'll get you out of here."

"B-but..." Azurill whimpered, tripping on his tail.

Drowzee's smile was wicked and sent a shiver up my spine. "Go into that hole, and don't forget to bring back my treasure!"

Azurill was full on sobbing, and attempted to run a couple yards before Drowzee stopped him. "I-I want my brother!"

"Sheesh, calm down! I said I'd take you home when you're done! If you keep being difficult, it'll mean trouble for you!"

Azurill shrunk into his tail. "H-help!"

Finally, Rion ran out in front of Drowzee and I followed him promptly, pumped to finally be fighting the bastard. "Stop right there!" Rion growled, his wine pools narrowed and his air dangerous.

"We won't let you lay a paw on that treasure or Azurill, you asshat!" I yelled the best I could, my voice coming out a croak.

"H-how'd you find me?!" Drowzee yelped, wide eyed in surprise.

"We're Team Rune Flame! We won't let you weasel your way out!" Rion snarled, copying my fierce battle position albeit, shakily.

Drowzee seemed taken off guard, mildly. "Little riolu... are you shaking?"

I glanced back at my partner to find his shaking evolve into trembling. "Rion, are you alright?" I whispered the loudest I could manage.

Drowzee laughed loudly, hitting his knee as if this were the most hilarious joke in the world. "You two are totally rookies, aren't you!" He kept laughing and laughing, and I was going to tackle him down a few notches, but Azurill was backing away.

_It'll be safer the farther he is away._ I told myself, trying to put a cap on my rising anger.

"I'm a criminal with a bounty on my head." Drowzee taunted. "Can you two do the job? Can you bring me to justice?"

Just like the last pinheads we fought, Rion's courage came back in a energized rage. "Of course we can! It's the least I can do!"

Drowzee chuckled. "I've been chased for years by exploration teams far better than you! You two are the most pathetic I've crossed with yet! This should be a laugh!"

Rion looked discouraged, until I nudged him and he came back growling and ready to fight. "Let's do this like we planned, Arian!"

Since he was a fighting type, I would have to take the main lead with my Faint Attack, and Rion would make sure of Azurill's safety and back me up.

Drowzee was taken by surprise when I gathered the dark and relentlessly attacked him, the scenario of what possible fate could have befallen the little one gifting me energy.

"You don't know those kids! They're taking care of their god damn mother, do you understand how terrible that is? They should be playing around all day instead of doing odd jobs for money just to take care of their small family! They should be imprudent adorable kids, not frightened if their mom will make it, not frightened for their future when they've barely had a past! And you take advantage of them! Bastard!" I screamed, waiting for him to peel himself off the ground for more. I was seething, completely enraged.

Back when I helped Rion grab him Relic Fragment back, I wasn't particularly angry, I just wanted to help. But this set me off. I guess I'm a justice lover after all.

"Hah... hah... Not bad, foxy. But think you can take this?" Drowzee stood up slowly, and sneered as he send a wave of Confusion at the cave ceiling above me, right onto a huge stalactite. I had no time to scream, frozen in terror for a moment before Rion bowled into me, sending us both just out of range.

"That was a dirty trick, Drowzee!" Rion scowled, fairly angered himself.

Drowzee only chuckled. "Maybe. But you saved your little girlfriend right in the nick of time, didn't you?"

The fact that Drowzee made that snide comment before sending out his attack allowed Rion to get to me before either of us got hurt was true.

"Arian isn't a girl and that doesn't change the fact of that being a cheap trick!"

I glanced at Rion, dumbfounded. I most certainly was a girl last I checked. I was about to tell him he was wrong but he took my dumbfoundment as belated fear.

"Don't worry, I got him." Rion stated confidently.

_First my specie, then my name, now my gender. What the everloving hell..._

"Big words for a fighting type."

Rion didn't look daunted though, just determined and pissed off. "I don't care what I have to take on. You could have fatally hurt my friend, you scammed the brothers, and probably much more! I will defeat you, fiend, and bring justice to them!"

_You do realize he's a criminal, he almost took my life for a reason. Plus, he isn't too bad comparatively speaking. He gave you warning and didn't threaten Azurill until he was too uncooperative. Oh Arceus..._

I shook my head and rid myself of the thoughts as Rion and Drowzee physically fought for a while. Drowzee was more wary of Rion and had experience on his side but Rion looked masterfully trained in the physical arts like he had a skilled teacher.

Rion finally won out, and we had sent Marill to grab the police for us to arrest him earlier. They probably would be arriving any minute.

I guarded Drowzee, who was tied with rope while Rion consoled the wailing Azurill.

"Your friend is pretty dense there. There aren't many vulpix- and the chance of a male is extremely low."

I sighed and grunted in agreement. "Yeah. Thank you for warning me before that stalactite, by the way. You may be greedy and let it blind you but you really aren't that bad of a pokemon. Don't take this the wrong way- I still think you're a bastard. But you're slightly better than other bastards. Only slightly."

He chuckled, and it sounded far more gentle. If he wasn't greedy, this pokemon probably would've been a decent guy. "Thank you little vulpix. You're a very empathetic pokemon, probably the most I've seen in our nasty times. You're very odd, you know that?"

I shrugged, uncertain how to take the compliment. I instead quenched my curiosities about the mon. "Why are you a villain, Drowzee? You don't seem to like violence. You aren't like other thieves I've met."

He sagged, looking tired and ancient even though he was barely old enough to be an adult by the looks of it.

"Little vulpix, this world has some magical pokemon amongst the increasingly darkening public. My mother was one. She was a beautiful hypno, and played with the village children in her spare time. She was the village doctor, and one of her patience was there because he was broken mentally. With her hypnotherapy, she was going to cure him. But one day he took hold of a shovel for the community gardens and beat her to death. My father killed him for it- he was not punished heavily for it due to the circumstances, but he fell into gambling, whores, and much, much debt. I had to take care of us and I started off exploring for gold but it was far easier to scheme and steal. Eventually I escaped home, but with no skills besides stealing that could help fill my belly, I grew too accustomed to it. Now I'm a wanted criminal tricking little boys to drag out treasure and beating up cute vulpix to be free."

I blinked, finding his face honest. Such a terrible childhood, to lead to such a life. "I... I'll visit you in jail. Sometimes. Only when I'm bored, don't get ideas of me wanting to be friends or anything. Just to make sure you don't go back to stealing and tricking."

He smiled. "Alright. Just don't get the idea of us being friends out of that."

I snorted at his sarcastic tone. "Shut up."

"Fine, fine. Make sure to come say hi every once in a while, kay?"

I nodded. "And you better come out dry from your old activities."

As Magnezone took him away, he nodded to me a bit in respect._ Boy, Rion isn't gonna like this. I wonder where he learned that form from, anyway. I'll ask later when I explain my gender._I

Maril and Azurill ran to each other, tears in their eyes as they sobbed in relief. I took a step back to give them some space. Rion gave me a big grin, and I shared a smile with him.

* * *

"Good kids." He murmured, and I nodded, sitting straighter as they approached us.

"Thank you so much!" Marill bowed, looking ready to burst with tears. They were happy tears, though. "I can't ever thank you enough! You too, Azurill!"

The little guy nodded energetically. "Thank you so much for rescuing me!"

"Just be more careful, okay?" I laughed as we walked them home, everyone extremely sappy and in a positive mood.

We watched them hobble home, side by side to a pond with a homely tree house that had a azurill, marill, and azumarill carved in the side.

Rion lightly nudged me, snapping me out of my trance, watching them. "Let's go home, buddy."

We stared at the pitiful 300 poke before us, hearts and happiness dampered once more. "Again, we've been ransacked..." Rion sighed, placing the pathetic amount in our bag.

"Oh, don't be dramatic. I expect work this good to continue! Squawk!" Chatot flapped his wings, barking in a tone that allowed any more argument. We exchanged looks of annoyance and doubt, then opting to trudge away to our room.

"We aren't ever gonna be rich at this rate." Rion mumbled, rolling around in his bedding.

I followed his sigh in suit. "Yeah. But we saved those kids today, which was awesome!"

"Ha, we were pretty cool!"

My stomach growled. "Uh, oops. My stomach is singing the song of its people."

Rion's stomach rumbled even louder. He chuckled. "Looks like its a duet now!"

The mess hall was a colorful room, the widest variety of ingredients I could have imagined against red dirt walls, and a long, long oak table. The first time, it was a bit of a sight to swallow, but right now my mind was set only on Chimeco's delicious creation's.

Rion and I were ravenous- we ate intensely, and all I was consciously aware of was whatever the hell Chimecho put in front of me- some kind of grilled berry salad with a puree on the side. I finished after nearly blanking out into exhaustion as I ate, lifting my head and wiping any stray food from my snout, suddenly hit with my usual self consciousness, frozen in my tracks.

"I did it again..." I murmured to myself fretfully.

A cheery sunflora across from me gave me a bright, friendly smile. "It just means you gave it your all today, rookie!" I looked left, and then right, unsure who she was referring to. I glanced at her and pointed to myself, and she laughed. "Yes, silly. You. Only Bidoof has talked to you guys, we're all kind of jealous."

I looked around, a bit surprised. "N-nice to meet you, Miss Sunflora. Do you have a personal name?"

She shook her head. "For most of us at the guild we just go by our specie. It's easier, especially for the more common types. You guys don't have to though- it'd be a shame."

Rion was still scarfing down food in a furious frenzy, totally preoccupied. I sighed and looked back to Sunflora. I didn't have an inkling to what she was talking about- I just let her keep talking, her motormouth kind of cute.

Rion, finally, after eating most of everything on the table, saved me from her overflowing mouth. Sunflora was lovely and all- wonderful and kind, but I had no idea how to act around the other members.

"Arrrrrian... I can't mooooove." I had to keep myself from banging my head on the table and used Rion as an excuse for escape.

I faced her with a small smile. "Thanks for talking to me Sunflora, I'm really happy to have talked." That wasn't a lie, and it wasn't like the problem was with her. I just couldn't get used to... how friendly they were, maybe? Honest? Bright? I shook my head. "I have to lug the lug back to our room."

"Mkay! Night!"

Rion was heavy, but I managed to throw him on his bed and collapse on mine, worn out.

I had the sneaking suspicion since he took a amber colored broth to drink, and it seemed I was right. He was drunk. "Hic- I'm sorry, I, uh, didn't listen t-today to you, A-arian. I didn't wa-want to believe it, y'know? I always want t-to believe the best in others. B-but they always lie... Y-you're different though. You are nice and stuff for reals." He yawned, beginning his speech with the moon becoming bright.

Despite him being under the influence, the praise made me smile a little. "You're drunk."

"Maybe." He replied, candidly. "I'm happy the brothers were okay, thanks to our mettle-ing. Thanks to you, really. You were terrifying. A demon. The devil. You had that black energy around you and that glare, and you just kept hitting him, like wham! bash! crunch! It made me really happy, Arian. Know why?"

Turning over, I grunted. "Huh?"

He giggled some. "You were really worried for little Azurill and Marill. From our first mission I could tell you were a decent person, but you're a justice lover! Admit it!"

I rolled my eyes. "It wasn't so the principle of justice but for those brothers. Drowzee told me something which sounds about right." The elephant's words about empathy in my head were loud and clear.

_I wasn't courageous, not really. Thinking back to the adrenaline, I wasn't thinking about Drowzee being bad or good, or how scary the situation was. Just about the blue mouse duo's plight._

_Empathy._

_I couldn't take thinking about how lonely and scared they must've been- be. Sympathy was pitying._ _I don't pity them. But I can't imagine the pain they must be in. If I could do just one thing for them, that meant one less issue for them. The keckeleon brothers must feel similar._

"... You talked to Drowzee?" He didn't sound happy.

I nodded, facing him. "He isn't so bad. And I know why I'm on this exploration team. Not just for my memories, or just to follow you because I'm lost. I want to help pokemon and grow with you. So now we're on equal footing."

"You were worried about that kind of thing?" Rion asked delicately, looking deflated.

I shook my head. "No, not really. But I feel better having my own reason too." I closed my eyes for a second, and when I opened then, I found Rion standing up, walking to my bed.

"What are you doing?"

Face flushed by the alcohol, he grinned. "You're so cuuuute, Arian."

"That didn't answer my question. You shouldn't go anywhere, you're drunk."

He laughed, plopping down on my hay bed. "I'm cold, miss worry pants, and its perfectly normal for partners to occasionally sleep together. You're a fire type, you ought to be warm."

"Y-you know I'm a girl?" This was all I could manage, as a lanky form laid across from me.

He nodded, putting his hand near my fur as if it were fire. "I figured it out on the way home. I just didn't take you for one, because of how tough and nonchalant you seemed at first. But its not like that changes anything. We're the best team around right?"

I chuckled. "If we aren't, then who is?"

"Atta girl." He smiled gently.

"If you're spooning me in the morning, I'll toast you alive." I murmured, fairly embarrassed under my fur. He probably had siblings to be so casual about something like this.

He yawned, resting his head. "Aye aye, captain."

It felt like years passed, as his breathing evened out and I couldn't help but have the irrational fear it'd stop if I stopped listening. To keep myself from going crazy, I decided to talk just a little, just to hear my own voice.

"My real name is Arianna, Rion."

I felt better after getting that off my chest, relaxing into the straw, closing my eyes.

On the shore of sleep, I heard a voice all too familiar. "I'll protect you, Arianna."

* * *

**Wee-Note- :3 The pace from now on will probably take normal week to two weeks now, considering this is where I have written up to.**

**Arrrg I'm not sure if the last scene was alright or not. My flailing and moaning aside, thank you for reading up to this point, and if you wouldn't mind, please review with your sentiments on the chapter~ Critics or anything at all are awesome and welcomed :3**

**:3 Teakittles is OUT**


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